I had no idea Mark Corrigan was a writer irl.
I'm about 75% of the way through 2666. I started two and a half weeks ago. The middle portion that highlights 114 of the murders was a bit of a slog to get through. I already miss the four academics from the first part.
Re: What are you reading?
302Can anyone recommend a book about non-alcoholic sobriety? I'm dealing with the grey area of having a drinking problem, in that I drink a little too much, every day, but do not think I'm an alcoholic. As such, it's difficult to find helpful literature that isn't about addiction, specifically.
Re: What are you reading?
303Class Struggles in Eastern Europe 1945-1983 (Chris Harman, 1983).
Presents a survey in two basic parts, firstly the period 1945-1952, where East European countries transfer into a Soviet sphere of influence and the severe repression that followed, before partial abatement (providing space for reformist tendencies); and secondly brief accounts of the big events in DDR, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, with Hungary receiving the most detailed attention. The book is engaging and readable and although brief I don't feel it skimps over anything.
While written from a critical leftist perspective, there is nothing here of trying to slot things into cookie-cutter analysis in the style of "they fell off the true path", "they used the wrong method" or whatever. By contrast, another classic work in this genre, Class Struggles in the USSR (Charles Bettelheim, 1974-1996), while as far as I can tell serious in its scholarship, bears the obvious mark of a loyal communist, meaning you have to continuously wade through lots of party shibboleths to get at the real meat, plus the account ends up being always partially apologetic, despite the initial gesture of criticism.
To put it a different way, Harman avoids the temptation of providing a satisfying closure of events (as in the common Trotskyist theme, and many anarchist accounts as well). There are a lot of questions opened up as to the actual nature and interests of the Soviet Union post-ww2, the composition of the East-European communist parties and the various motivations of its members, the nature and actual viability of the reformist tendencies... All circling around the theme which is for me the most pertinent and interesting one when considering communist or other radical movements, which is their perpetual tensions and ambiguities, which refute all the usual homogenizing narratives.
Worthy of note is that the reformist leadership factions in Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia were were all basically committed communists and true believers in the system. In Czechoslovakia especially (as this book has it) they appear to have gone out of their way to be conciliatory and moderating. What would this have meant if these uprisings actually consolidated themselves into a sustained challenge on Soviet rule? Compare this to another true believer reformist, Gorbachev. Over time you see the limits of how far he was willing to go. More openness and so on, but we're still a communist country. And when things started to slip out of their hands, that government made moves to tighten repression once again.
Given all this, some of what happened in the transition period in Czechoslovakia is more understandable. Dubcek felt he was sidelined and kind of betrayed by the others, and hearing about this at an earlier point it indeed looked kind of dickish to me. But on the other hand, in the light of the above it makes sense why Havel didn't trust him. In a similar way, I believe Solidarity in Poland stood for an absolute break with the regime, their population having also been let down by reformist party factions.
It appears that this background provides some necessary explanation of the waning in prestige of state-managed economy, and the ideological pull of neoliberalism, and how these are partly rooted in aspirations among the people. Typical leftist understandings of these processes really have no sensitivity to these factors at all. I recently came upon the intriguingly titled Markets in the Name of Socialism: The Left-Wing Roots of Neoliberalism (Johanna Bockman, 2011), which seems to go into how free-market ideas were popular among left-leaning economists in Eastern Europe during the latter days of communism, imagined as a vehicle of democracy and everything good and based. I'll keep looking into it.
Presents a survey in two basic parts, firstly the period 1945-1952, where East European countries transfer into a Soviet sphere of influence and the severe repression that followed, before partial abatement (providing space for reformist tendencies); and secondly brief accounts of the big events in DDR, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, with Hungary receiving the most detailed attention. The book is engaging and readable and although brief I don't feel it skimps over anything.
While written from a critical leftist perspective, there is nothing here of trying to slot things into cookie-cutter analysis in the style of "they fell off the true path", "they used the wrong method" or whatever. By contrast, another classic work in this genre, Class Struggles in the USSR (Charles Bettelheim, 1974-1996), while as far as I can tell serious in its scholarship, bears the obvious mark of a loyal communist, meaning you have to continuously wade through lots of party shibboleths to get at the real meat, plus the account ends up being always partially apologetic, despite the initial gesture of criticism.
To put it a different way, Harman avoids the temptation of providing a satisfying closure of events (as in the common Trotskyist theme, and many anarchist accounts as well). There are a lot of questions opened up as to the actual nature and interests of the Soviet Union post-ww2, the composition of the East-European communist parties and the various motivations of its members, the nature and actual viability of the reformist tendencies... All circling around the theme which is for me the most pertinent and interesting one when considering communist or other radical movements, which is their perpetual tensions and ambiguities, which refute all the usual homogenizing narratives.
Worthy of note is that the reformist leadership factions in Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia were were all basically committed communists and true believers in the system. In Czechoslovakia especially (as this book has it) they appear to have gone out of their way to be conciliatory and moderating. What would this have meant if these uprisings actually consolidated themselves into a sustained challenge on Soviet rule? Compare this to another true believer reformist, Gorbachev. Over time you see the limits of how far he was willing to go. More openness and so on, but we're still a communist country. And when things started to slip out of their hands, that government made moves to tighten repression once again.
Given all this, some of what happened in the transition period in Czechoslovakia is more understandable. Dubcek felt he was sidelined and kind of betrayed by the others, and hearing about this at an earlier point it indeed looked kind of dickish to me. But on the other hand, in the light of the above it makes sense why Havel didn't trust him. In a similar way, I believe Solidarity in Poland stood for an absolute break with the regime, their population having also been let down by reformist party factions.
It appears that this background provides some necessary explanation of the waning in prestige of state-managed economy, and the ideological pull of neoliberalism, and how these are partly rooted in aspirations among the people. Typical leftist understandings of these processes really have no sensitivity to these factors at all. I recently came upon the intriguingly titled Markets in the Name of Socialism: The Left-Wing Roots of Neoliberalism (Johanna Bockman, 2011), which seems to go into how free-market ideas were popular among left-leaning economists in Eastern Europe during the latter days of communism, imagined as a vehicle of democracy and everything good and based. I'll keep looking into it.
born to give
Re: What are you reading?
304The Idiot by Elif Batuman. I read a review of one of her books and saw this one at a local shop so thought I'd give it a shot. It's OK so far at about 60 pages in.
Re: What are you reading?
305I'm curious about this one too.bigc wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:54 am Can anyone recommend a book about non-alcoholic sobriety? I'm dealing with the grey area of having a drinking problem, in that I drink a little too much, every day, but do not think I'm an alcoholic. As such, it's difficult to find helpful literature that isn't about addiction, specifically.
During a previous respite from alcohol consumption, I wanted to read about alcohol withdrawal and Google would only bring me rehab clinic websites.
I'm having a well-earned dry January and wondering about this again. (The /r/stopdrinking subreddit has been useful sometimes but doesn't really fit the bill.)
Re: What are you reading?
306I'm constantly flipping back and forth between drinking too much and quitting.Teacher's Pet wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:08 amI'm curious about this one too.bigc wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:54 am Can anyone recommend a book about non-alcoholic sobriety? I'm dealing with the grey area of having a drinking problem, in that I drink a little too much, every day, but do not think I'm an alcoholic. As such, it's difficult to find helpful literature that isn't about addiction, specifically.
During a previous respite from alcohol consumption, I wanted to read about alcohol withdrawal and Google would only bring me rehab clinic websites.
I'm having a well-earned dry January and wondering about this again. (The /r/stopdrinking subreddit has been useful sometimes but doesn't really fit the bill.)
I'd be happy to discuss and share experiences with you all... if you think it might help. Not sure if the addiction thread is where this kind of discussion should go, but I'm going to bump it...
jason (he/him/his) from volo (illinois)
Re: What are you reading?
307Maybe this one:jfv wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:19 amI'm constantly flipping back and forth between drinking too much and quitting.Teacher's Pet wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:08 amI'm curious about this one too.bigc wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:54 am Can anyone recommend a book about non-alcoholic sobriety? I'm dealing with the grey area of having a drinking problem, in that I drink a little too much, every day, but do not think I'm an alcoholic. As such, it's difficult to find helpful literature that isn't about addiction, specifically.
During a previous respite from alcohol consumption, I wanted to read about alcohol withdrawal and Google would only bring me rehab clinic websites.
I'm having a well-earned dry January and wondering about this again. (The /r/stopdrinking subreddit has been useful sometimes but doesn't really fit the bill.)
I'd be happy to discuss and share experiences with you all... if you think it might help. Not sure if the addiction thread is where this kind of discussion should go, but I'm going to bump it...
https://www.paulthomasmd.com/the-addict ... ctrum.html
We tend to treat addiction as an all or nothing thing. That does work for some people who have hit bottom. But for the "functioning" addicts it's not as useful perhaps.
Re: What are you reading?
308Forget the Alamo. It does a lot of myth busting about the Battle of the Alamo, the people who were behind it, and the ongoing perpetuation of the bunk historical narrative that persists to this day, especially in Texas.
Re: What are you reading?
309What's that narrative, and what is the real scoop?Dave N. wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:05 pmand the ongoing perpetuation of the bunk historical narrative that persists to this day, especially in Texas.
born to give
Re: What are you reading?
310The new Bret Easton Ellis.
"There's a felling I get when I look to the west"
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."
"When the meaningful words. When they cease to function. When there's nothing to say."